The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved a Rs.1,011-crore project to modernise immigration services. Covering visa issuance, immigration and foreigners' registration in all Indian missions abroad and related offices in India, the project will be taken up by the Home Ministry under the National e-Governance Plan. It is targeted to be completed by September 2014.
A beginning will be made with the National Institute for Smart Government (NSIG) generating an e-governance solution for immigration, visa issue and foreigners' registration and tracking. Thereafter a detailed project report will be prepared.
The underpinning to the project is provided by an NSIG report, which was finalised in consultation with several Ministries, including Home and External Affairs, the Department of Information Technology, the Bureau of Immigration and the National Informatics Centre.
